My dance shoe dealer also highly recommends Nadia, made by International, as well. I didn't get them only because she didn't have the color I wanted. Those babies really support your foot. They have two ankle straps, and it feels impossible for your foot to slip around.

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well pygmalion,
i have the Nadias and i wasnt too happy with them since they do not have heel support.it is hard to keeep your heel in. it always seems to slip out. i dont know, it might be different on you. my coach told me to get the melissas and i see alot of pros dancing in those. i like the ones that strap around under your arch. it keeps my foot in there lol.

Shoe update: I got a pair of Freed Tina for Christmas and I LOVE them!!!! They fit perfectly...after dancing for four months in shoes that were too big, it made a world of difference putting on a pair that actually fit and being able to do moves that I've struggled with due to ill-fitting shoes. Plus, they are GORGEOUS...my feet feel all sexified in them :lol: I have yet to do any hard-core dancing in them (my team doesn't practice over break), so I'll have to let you know how they feel after several hours of dancing :? , but they seem pretty comfortable, at least for short periods of time.

Hehe, I don't know if I should be mentioning this because I don't like dissing on certain brands, but the shoes that I struggled with for four months were a pair of Ray Rose Hurricane that I got from the Ray Rose closeout sale on dancevision.com that pygmalion mentioned :? Aside from being the wrong size, I found the soles to be of a rather poor quality and the stitching seem to come undone rather easily...I'm by no means trying to say that Ray Rose is crap, I am just advising CAUTION in buying them...maybe I just had a bad experience, but I would just hate to let other people waste money like I did :cry: Makes one wonder just why dancevision was so anxious to get rid of all those shoes...hmmmm....

Oh ballroomboilergirl, you must know I felt compelled to google Ray Rose shoes and look for dirt. Didn't find any, although I did find that they're endorsed by Brian Watson and Carmen. Maybe you had an isolated bad experience? And, of course, the shoes being too big was a fundamental problem to start with. And, while I've had great experiences overall with dancevision, I've never tried to return anything. Do they have a good return policy? Anybody know?

Dance Vision probably had a clearance on Ray Rose shoe's as Nick & Elena are now the distributors for Ray Rose U.S.A.

As far as the shoes, while I have never had a pair many *top* dancers love them, including the likes of Jukka & Sirpa, Michael & Beata, Serena, and the aforementioned Bryan & Carmen. Given that any of these people could have any shoe sponsorship they wish, clearly they must truly like the shoes.

Hmmm....didn't know Brian and Carmen endorsed them I'm beginning to think that I probably just tore the hell out of mine...I was literally dancing in them for at least two hours every day for four months :? Plus it was my first pair of dance shoes, so I didn't really know how to take care of them...but hey, at least I only paid $60 for them rather than $100+, so I guess it was a worthwhile investment

Yeah. Taking care of dance shoes isn't easy. But you're right. They SHOULD last longer than four months. Hmm. I'll google and see if I can find one of the care of ballroom shoe articles. Two hours a day for four months shouldn't destroy a pair of shoes. There WAS a problem, and it could be with the quality of the shoes you got, or it could be poor upkeep. Either way, I'll try to get you the information, so those new Tina's of yours stay looking good and feeling comfy! Enjoy your new shoes. Nothing like a new pair of dance shoes to make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. :lol:

Just to put this all in perspective... I know a Blackpool finalist who can destroy a pair of his favorite shoes in one day at Blackpool! :shock: :shock: :shock:

It's true... he likes the thinnest, lightest pair he can get to dance in but, as a result, when he works the floor for round after round after round, he literally wears through a pair of new shoes by the end of a day!

In ONE DAY? Yeesh :shock: I guess I should be thankful I don't wear through shoes THAT quickly...and guys shoes are definitely pricer than womens!

...thanks so much, pygmalion. I'm definitely babying Tina 1 and Tina 2 (what I've been calling my new left and right shoes, respectively...I am such a nerd lol :lol: ). When they're not on my feet, they're in a shoe bag, and they only get worn on wood, linoleum, and smooth cement floors...and they never see the sun/wind/snow/rain/anywhere outdoors...I was going to scotch guard them, but I have found that scotch guarding often leaves a bit of dulling film on satin, plus I didn't want to risk getting any on the crystals on the t-bar and making them dull either :? So I am just going to be extra careful...I am considering always keeping a spare pair of heel tips and a pair of soles onhand in the event of an unfortunate "sole-gunk emergency", lol...I am debating whether or not to get heel protectors...does anyone have any experience with them? I am afraid they might impede my dancing, but I don't want to ruin my heels either...

Actually I do find heel protectors to be problematic for two reasons. One they never seem to fit the heel snug enough so i feel woobly in them and two when I'm wearing 3" heels it just skews my balance in the wrong direction.

When I was enpointe I could rip through a pair of pointe shoes in about 3 hours YIKES!

Speaking of balance I found my last pair of latin shoes from supadance weren't balanced properly in that when I placed them on flat surface the heel was either off balance or the ball didn't touch the surface. I didn't have that problem with the Shoes I'd had from Capezio

I love my capezio Latinas and for the price ( get them $72 with free shipping) they can't be beat they are lined with suede ( I think some capezio models were lined with vynil so thats why I mention that) and they readily come in wide

I've been wanting to try the freed tinas though. How do they run on sizings as I haven't ahd chance to try them in person I'm between a regular and wide fit.

Actually I do find heel protectors to be problematic for two reasons. One they never seem to fit the heel snug enough so i feel woobly in them and two when I'm wearing 3" heels it just skews my balance in the wrong direction.

When I was enpointe I could rip through a pair of pointe shoes in about 3 hours YIKES!

Speaking of balance I found my last pair of latin shoes from supadance weren't balanced properly in that when I placed them on flat surface the heel was either off balance or the ball didn't touch the surface. I didn't have that problem with the Shoes I'd had from Capezio

I love my capezio Latinas and for the price ( get them $72 with free shipping) they can't be beat they are lined with suede ( I think some capezio models were lined with vynil so thats why I mention that) and they readily come in wide

I've been wanting to try the freed tinas though. How do they run on sizings as I haven't ahd chance to try them in person I'm between a regular and wide fit.

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Hmm...I might reconsider the whole heel protector thing...come to think of it, most people on my team don't wear them unless we are making an appearance somewhere (such as the exhibition dance the team did at halftime of the first home basketball game this season) and the sponsors don't want their floor (READ: the basketball court at Mackey Arena! :shock: ) getting damaged...maybe I should just keep a pair on hand for that purpose...

I HIGHLY, HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend the Freed Tina style, as do the five other girls on my team that have them One of the girls that has them is actually our faculty advisor who has been dancing for 8 years, and she owns three pairs of them! (one for practice, one for competitions, and one for social dancing/performances) I find that they run a bit on the narrow side...a guy on my team actually recommended the whole Freed brand to me because they do cater a bit more to narrow-footed ladies like myself...however, I think there is at least one place on the net that you can get them in wide. Mine came from freedusa.com (which I have found to be the cheapest place on the web to get them...if you order over $100 before Dec. 31 you get a free shoe bag!!! ), and there they only have the tan satin, 2.5" heel, regular width Tina, but I know that at showtimedanceshoes.com they carry the 2", 2.5", and 3" heel and have the flesh satin, tan satin, and prism glitter Tinas. So far those are the only two places I know of that carry Tina, but I am sure there are more...I would just google "Freed Tina" and something should come up.

As for sizing, freedusa.com recommends two sizes smaller than your American shoe size...don't listen to them. I wear an american women's size 7 and I wear a 3.5 in Tina. Two other girls on my team wear an american size 6 and wear a 3.5 in Tina, one woman wears an american size 5 and wears a 3 in Tina, and one woman wears and american size 8/9 and wears a 5.5 in Tina (lol, no I'm not nuts keeping track of everyone's shoe size...I just really did a lot of research on the Tinas before I got them because they are a bit of an investment :wink I think there is not really a constant size conversion factor for them...it really varies from person to person, depending on the width of your foot (my feet are really narrow, but my friend has wide feet and wears Tinas), how much of an arch you have (I have very high arches, and another girl that wears them has almost completely flat feet), and how you like your shoes to fit (my toes hang over the end about 1/4", but another girl likes her toes to just touch the end of her shoe).

The best advice I can give you is to either go to a dance shoe store and try on a pair for yourself, find someone who owns a pair and ask them if you can try theirs on for size, or, ideally, if you compete, go to a ballroom competition...they often have several shoe vendors there and you can try on shoes. If you can't get your hands on a pair of Tina's to try on, the next best thing is to try on another style of Freed Latin shoe (such as Sylvia, Eliana, or Karen)...they might fit a bit differently, but Freed tends to be pretty constant with their sizing from style to style. Worst case scenario: make an educated guess about what size you would be and order the shoes online. If they don't fit, you can always send them back and ask for a different size...I know freedusa.com has a good return policy and the people there are very friendly

Pros: I find them to be very comfortable, have great flexibility (good for showing line), and are just so darn pretty, my feet feel so sexy in them :wink: Several top rhythm and latin pros have adopted Tina as their shoe of choice. Cons: If the ball of your foot is really wide, you might have trouble squeezing your toes in the 5 toe straps, and the back of the shoe tends to be a bit low and doesn't completely cover the heel region, if you're the type that likes to have a lot of heel coverage. Again, these are just things that I have noticed, opinions vary from person to person, but the majority of what I have heard from people that own Tinas is positive

I hope this helped...let me know if you're jumping on the Tina bandwagon!

I find that I wear out my heel tips fairly quicky, so heel protectors have been a real money saver. If I keep replacing the covers, I never have to replace the heel tips . At my recent comp, I didn't buy shoes, I bought an eight pack of IDS heel covers! Also, it gives me another 1/4 inch of height! I also feel it gives me a bit more grip on slippery floor.

My first, and favorite Latin shoe is the Monica by International. I've practically worn holes in all the right places. I just got a new pair, and they fit differently. I was told that since they are handmade, each one will fit a bit differently. I haven't really worn them in yet, but hope they'll turn our just as well as the others.

Thanks for your comments re the freed tina. I always used to wear freed pointe shoes so I know to expect the best from them. I do have a few good ballroom shops near me but none of them seem to stock any freeds at least not the ballroom shoes.

I guess the best thing is to try and find a place with free shipping and good return policies and just order the size I think I should be and go from there.

I do understand that shoes are handmade and vary but I have consistanly found that sipadance shoes tend to be unbalanced and it takes them a bit of gentle breaking in with the hands to make the sole lay flat.

I find the heel tips feel more slippery but maybe I need to try the suede ones but still adding things to the heels I think disrupts the balance of the shoes

The tan and flesh satin are slightly different colors...freedusa.com only carries the tan satin, which is kind of a honey-color...that's what mine are and I really like them showtimedanceshoes.com carries the flesh satin, which is more of a copper/bronze color...like the color of pennies. The people I know that have them are divided on the color issue...three of us have the tan and three of us have the flesh color. I guess it depends on what your skin color is...I have rather olive skin, so the tan looks better on me, but another girl that has them is Puerto Rican and prefers the flesh color to match her darker skin tone. I guess the one advantage the flesh color might have over the tan is that if you get it dirty, it won't show up as much :?

samba ajr, heel protectors work that well??? I've been curious about them for awhile but I've been afraid to try them because I thought they would feel different and affect my dancing :? Are yours made specifically for the brand of shoe you wear, or are they interchangeable with any shoe? I worry about them not fitting on my heels properly. Where did you order them? Do they break easily?

As for smooth shoes, I think somewhere in this thread Dancing Mommy mentioned her favorite smooth/standard shoes, and if I recall she mentioned the Supadance 1008, which is a rounded-toe elastic court shoe. However, I also talked to Larinda about smooth/standard shoes since I'm thinking of buying a pair (its getting too hard to do heel turns and heel leads in Latin shoes! :shock and she recommended the Supadance Liaison for smooth (its what most of the professionals wear...its basically a criss-cross strap closed toe shoe with mesh on the sides) and the Supadance 1216 or 1012 for Standard (basic rounded-toe court shoe, except without elastic...the 1216 is strapless while the 1012 has a strap). She warned against elasticized shoes because they lose shape over time and will pucker out, flared heels because it is wayyyy too hard to do heel leads in them, and pointed toe shoes because the extra length makes it harder to do toe leads.

So you've really had a lot of trouble with Supadance, tasche? I have never owned a pair of them but I'm thinking I probably will sometime in the future...any suggestions for what NOT to get?

Okay. Pet peeve time. Flesh colored shoes aren't. Not if you have darker skin. I wonder what dark-skinned Black girls do. They must have their shoes custom dyed, because I have a light/medium complexion and only the dark tan (I think color #18 in Supadance) is dark enough not to look neon against my skin. :x Really Black Black girls are out of luck.